President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos apologized on October 12, 2012, for the deaths and devastation caused by the rubber boom about 100 years ago.
From 1912 to 1929, a Peruvian firm supported by the Colombian government tapped rubber in south Colombia. Up to 100,000 people were killed, communities were destroyed, and human rights were abused by rubber barons. The indigenous were subject to forced labor, slavery, torture, and mutilation.
On the Day of the Race, which commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus on South America and marks the beginning of Spanish colonization in Latin America, President Santos issued the public apology. Santos said that "in pursuit of progress", the Colombian government of 1912 "failed to understand the importance of safeguarding each indigenous person and culture as an essential part of a society we now understand as multi-ethnic and multicultural."
Santos promised the abuse 102 indigenous groups experienced would never happen again. Up to a third of the groups faced extinction because of the "armed conflict and forced displacement" by the rubber barons.
Better late than never. I'm glad President Santos apologized for the past government's wrong doings. It's unfortunate and ridiculous how many indigenous people died because they got in the way of a rubber company's success. This actually reminds me of the conflict between the American government and the Native Americans. Native Americans were forced to work as slaves, moved from their homes, and killed when they did not cooperate with the American government.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19931443
WOW!! I cannot put any words to this, it is just ridiculous and crazy.
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